Program Overview | Past Recipients | Guidelines and Application

Aetna and the Aetna Foundation are improving health care in our communities through our business practices and charitable giving. We remain especially interested in programs that seek to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Over $20 million has been directed toward this issue since 2001. The following are but a few examples of our support toward improving racial and ethnic health care equality:

• Grants – Through our Regional Community Health Grants and Quality of Care Grants programs we partner with nonprofit organizations to address disparities in health.



• Racial and Ethnic Equality Initiative (REEI) – Spearheaded by Aetna Inc., the REEI seeks to assess and track racial and ethnic disparities in health care and to develop interventions that improve the quality of care for Aetna’s diverse population. Examples of these activities include the voluntary collection of race, ethnicity and language data from our members, studies and pilots focused on targeted interventions to improve the health care of our members, and cultural competency training.



• Seeking Sustainable Outcomes – A $300,000 Aetna Foundation grant is preparing health care professionals at The Disparities Solution Center at Massachusetts General Hospital to develop strategies that address health care disparities.



• Expanding Opportunities – We have awarded over $260,000 since 2002 to the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations.



• Increasing Diversity of Health Professionals – $2 million, five-year commitment is endowing the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative at the University of Connecticut.



• Addressing Obesity  – Aetna has awarded the New Jersey Mayors Wellness Campaign over $400,000 since 2005 to cultivate fitness in cities.

Learn more: Disparities in Health Care

In addition to our interests and efforts toward eliminating racial and ethnic inequalities in health care, equally important and worth noting are our efforts to improve overall quality of care through philanthropy including:

Quality of Care Grants

• Disease Treatment – The Aetna Foundation awarded a $223,000 grant for research to the University of California, San Francisco in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital to evaluate whether women with breast cancer are offered genetic tests that help physicians individualize patient treatment based on the results.



• Medication Adherence  – A two year $400,000 Aetna Foundation grant to the University of Pennsylvania for an incentive-based program seeks to improve medication regimen adherence in patients using a lottery-based financial incentive, in conjunction with an electronic monitoring device.